RNA - “The elements of national power of the Islamic Republic are superior to the elements of national power of Saudi Arabia and the country does not have the potential to pose a threat against Iran,” Major General Yahya Rahim Safavi, a top military advisor to Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, said at a military gathering in Tehran on Tuesday.
The Iranian commander pointed to the Saudi war on Yemen, which is aimed to support Yemen’s former Riyadh-friendly government and crush the Houthi Ansarullah movement, and noted, “If the Saudi military might was superior, they could have defeated the Houthis in Yemen, but they have been defeated in three years of unequal war in Yemen.”
Rahim Safavi argued that military equipment is not the only determining factor in military confrontations, noting that those who pose threat to Iran are extremely vulnerable, as it was the case for former Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussain in its eight-year war against Iran during the 1980s.
Last weekend, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with Saudi and Israeli leaders during a whirlwind tour of the region to reportedly rally coordinated support against Iran’s regional influence and brief the US regional allies about Washington’s threat to end Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with the world powers.
The visit came two weeks before a deadline set by US President Donald Trump to decide whether to reinstate sanctions against Iran, which were lifted under the nuclear agreement.
Another important issue on Pompeo's agenda was Riyadh's plan to normalize ties with Israel. Earlier this month, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said Riyadh and Tel Aviv had “a common enemy” and that they could immediately normalize their relations once the Palestine issue was resolved.
Saudi officials have repeatedly accused the Islamic Republic of inciting violence across the region and even pointed to the possibility of engaging in military confrontation against the country. Iran has repeatedly dismissed the allegations.
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal on March 29, bin Salman warned that Saudi Arabia may engage in a war against Iran in the future if tougher international sanctions are not imposed against the Islamic Republic.
Iran and Saudi Arabia are currently supporting opposing sides in the Syrian conflict.
Riyadh is widely believed to be a key sponsor of the Takfiri terrorists, who are inspired by Wahhabism, an extremist ideology preached by Saudi clerics.
According to Press TV, Tehran has been effectively helping the Syrian government in its fight against those terrorists.
Meanwhile in Yemen, Saudi Arabia leads a military coalition waging a deadly war on Yemen since 2015 to reinstall its former Riyadh-friendly government.
Riyadh accuses Tehran of sponsoring Yemen’s Houthi movement, but the Islamic Republic rejects the claim and urges the kingdom to put an end to the deadly war, which has killed over 14,000 Yemenis.
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